In the period of some 50 years since the adoption of the Geneva Conventions for the protection of war victims of 1949, humanity has passed through the alarming number of armed conflicts that hit nearly every continent. During that period, the Four Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols provided legal protection to persons who did not directly participate or no longer participated in hostilities, such as wounded, sick and shipwrecked persons, persons deprived of their liberty through armed conflict and civilians. Despite this, numerous international provisions have been violated, leading to devastating circumstances that could have been avoided if the respect of international law had been ensured more efficiently. Due to the vulnerable position, unprotected, inconsistent implementation of international documents, and lack of surveillance on the battlefield, civilians suffer direct and indirect consequences of armed conflict. The focus of this final paper is on the protection of civilians in armed conflicts.